Last year a parent let me borrow an Elf on the Shelf for the holiday season. I had never heard of this before, so I had to do a little research. Unfortunately for my class last year our elf was a little bit of a slacker... This year I vowed to find a better elf!
It is my honor to introduce Sparkles our class elf!
Sparkles was a few days late to our classroom...but to keep us from worrying she sent us LOTS of fun surprises! The first day we walked into the classroom to find a brand new Christmas tree, a Nativity, a postcard from Texas and a LOT of glitter! Sparkles was in Texas on top secret Santa business.
The second day we got a postcard from Atlanta, Sparkles was on her way to visit our classroom, but she made a stop at the World of Coca Cola! She brought each student a special jingle bell from Santa's sleigh (and promised to bring Miss P her favorite book "The Polar Express")
When Sparkles finally arrived the kids were very excited...and boy did Sparkles have some fun plans up her sleeves! Most days she left us a detailed note telling the kids how they were the day before, explaining her newest hiding spot, or telling us about Santa. I think the kids favorite day was when Sparkles built her own Zip Line! The kids each wrote Sparkles an individual letter for her to read.
One day the kids had not been on their best behavior, so Sparkles was not very pleased. She had to BEG Santa to let her stay in the classroom. Lucky for the kids Santa was in a forgiving mood, but Sparkles did not have time to reply to the letters right away...and she caught a little cold!
Do not worry! Sparkles recovered from a quiet day in the classroom and was able to write EACH student back! One of my favorite letters to a student from Sparkles...
Sparkles really bonded with our Jungle friends during her stay! The students had a hard time finding Sparkles this morning! She did a great job hiding!
Sparkles did not just watch the students, but she brought them projects! Mrs. Claus accidentally shrunk Santa's suit and Sparkles needed the classes help in designing a new suit! Sparkles brought us the story of what happened, as well as a letter from Mrs. Claus HERSELF! The students had to design a new suit and then write a SEVEN sentence paragraph explaining their choices. (These second graders BLEW me out of the water with their writing!)
During the last few days of school Sparkles got extra silly! One morning we came in to find her drinking a concoction of Sprite and Glitter! (Sparkles favorite color is GLITTER)
The last day of school was the most fun. Sparkles found my wrapping paper and had a little too much fun with it. To the kids surprise she brought us BRAND new markers and crayons (she had heard some arguing students and wanted to solve that problem!)
Overall, I think Sparkles had a GREAT stay in the jungle and I do not think my wild things scared her off! I had so much fun having this little visitor for the month of December!
